Wise Republicans Christmas Party! Bring an unwrapped toy and $15 per person for an evening of fun & fellowship!!! The toy goes to Wise Hope and the fee is for the food! It’s BYOB so if you have a favorite adult beverage bring it and some to share! See you at the Sage Brush cafe in Bridgeport!

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The Wise Republican Party will meet at the Weatherford college entrance on FM1655 at 1pm for about an hour to clean the trash out of wise county! Email Debi if you have more questions otherwise we will see you there! wrw.debiporter@gmail.com

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The Red Gala is coming up quick so reserve the date and get your tickets now! Go to our Event Brite page to purchase yours now! Don’t forget the silent auction, great food, and a great time with friends. January 28th 2017 at the Decatur Civic Center, 5:00 pm for the VIP meeting and the general party starts at 6:00 pm.

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Mark you calendars for the Wise County Republican Christmas Party December 12th 6:30-8:30pm, Sage Brush Cafe in Bridgeport. Admission is $15 cash or credit at the door along with an unwrapped toy we are collecting for the Wise Hope organization. The is an EVENT on our Facebook page and it would help us plan if you could click it and tell us you are planning to attend. Thanks again and we look forward to see you there as we celebrate Christmas and a Winning year for Republicans!

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The Wise County Convention of States group is hosting an informational meeting this Thursday the 17th @ 7:00 pm in the Lecture Hall of Weatherford College Wise County campus. Tom Dowdy the Texas Coalition director is the speaker so bring your questions and learn why so many states and the Texas Governor are trying to rally the people on this subject! you can also get general information at www.conventionofstates.com

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Continuing the series of articles on Wise County elected officials. This is on James Stainton and is reprinted with permission from Bridgeport Index.

Wise County Attorney10/2016

by Debi Porter

County Attorney:

• Represents the state in prosecuting misdemeanor criminal cases.

• Works with law enforcement officers in the investigation of criminal cases.

• Provides legal advice to the Commissioners Court and to other elected officials.

• Brings civil enforcement actions on behalf of the state or county.

James Stainton, Wise County Attorney, has served since 2009 and is passionate about the work he does. He stated that many people see ‘county attorney’ and think the office is for individual citizens, but the office works for the county government.

The county attorney is an elected position that is primarily responsible for the prosecution of misdemeanor level criminal offenses; for example first offense DWI or marijuana, small amounts of theft, first offense domestic violence and things of that nature. Secondarily, the office handles the county’s legal work statutorily.

Wise County is unique in the level that it operates with contracts and memorandums of understanding. The fact that the county is bordered on three sides by large counties makes it more practical to have an attorney that works with the county judge and commissioner’s court on strictly those issues. Wise County is one of the few counties that have a separate attorney, Thomas ___ that fills that position; most counties contract that type of work out at a huge expense. “Judge McElhaney made a good decision when I took office in 2009 to go ahead and create that position, because it is more practical and cost effective. Whereas my job is more litigation and legal based,” stated Mr. Stainton.

One of the things Mr. Stainton handles is inmate litigation. “We have had inmates sue the sheriff before. It happens. They want out of jail, they sue everybody. Inmate litigation is very common. So our Sheriff’s office gets sued for unbelievable things, such as they don’t like the kind of food they are getting or they don’t get enough TV. Seriously we get that stuff, but the sheriff has to have somebody to respond to that. Instead of farming that out like we did many years ago and hiring outside lawyers to handle that at a significant cost, when I took office in 2009 I said I would do it. I had the background that I felt confident that I could do things like legal conflict, summary judgement, discovery, mediation; those were things I had done for eight years in private practice. We do farm out somethings when it gets into real serious litigation. We have insurance through the Texas Association of Counties and they have lawyers that we work with for litigation where I would have to shut down my office for a period of time or where it is so big I can’t do my other jobs,” remarked Stainton.

A subset of the prosecutor job includes misdemeanor hot checks (which is under $2,500.00); “We don’t get that many hot checks anymore because people have debit cards or a credit card linked to their checking account. We still get more than you would expect.”

Also included are all the protective orders for domestic violence victims and all mental commitments for the county go through the C.A.’s office. “This is a pretty busy business. We work with law enforcement agencies because they are the ones that come in contact with people that have some mental difficulties or a mental health diagnosis, or a person is off their meds or on their meds; law enforcement deals with them face to face. Law enforcement has to have extensive training each year in mental health. Those people need help. Many years ago we treated them like criminals, you can’t really do that. There are people out there that have legitimate problems. They aren’t bad people, they aren’t evil, and many were born with the problem. Some have burned out there brain with dope and that is a choice they made, but they still need help. In this office, because of where I worked before I have more of an understanding since I had represented defendants who had mental health problems. I’ve also had extensive training in different legal courses. It is not a real problem in Wise County, but we do have a sizable number of mental health cases. We probably do three or four a week. They are people, they live in our community if they get on their meds and work the program they can become a productive part of our society,” remarked Stainton.

“I try to always be available, to do the job the way it needs to be done in a growing county such as ours you have to take those middle of the night calls. I am not one to do things half way,” stated Stainton.

Mr. Stainton stated that the Wise County Attorney’s office operates pretty lean for the case load that is handled there. The office handles almost 2000 A and B misdemeanor cases per year. This number does not count hot checks, protective orders or mental commitments, or the fact that they prosecute in all four justice of the peace courts. The attorneys do the all intake personally. “That is pretty busy. Most counties have four or five lawyers. We manage to handle twice the cases with half the people. We get it done and still manage to have fun. I have a great crew. Most of my crew was here before me. The staff consists of two lawyers (including myself), two investigators and five support staff,” explained Mr. Stainton. Investigators within the county attorney’s office pursue information or contact a witness or gain additional evidence after the case has gone to the attorney’s office. Both of the investigators come from a law enforcement background and have extensive experience. They serve warrants among other duties and it helps the system keep moving rather than having to wait for other law enforcement departments.

Other positions include: A victim co-coordinator that handles all of the domestic violence victims and other victims of crime such as theft. “I have spoken at prosecutors conferences mainly about emergency protective orders for domestic violence victims. I did some forms on emergency protective orders that are used in many counties. All of the departments use one form now and the streamlining makes it much easier for everybody to understand. It is better for victims.”

One person does intake, according to Mr. Stainton, it is a thankless job but it has to be done. Everyone is cross-trained to do it, but one person does it primarily.

Another person handles the mental commitments. “Sylvia has been here for years and is really good with all the law and statutes. She helps me mentally to ‘get it right’”

And one person handles all the hot checks and that type thing. “It is a big team effort. It is funny that we don’t have any more people now than we did in 2007, but yet we are handling five times the cases,” stated Stainton.

“We collect a ton of hot check money for local merchants for restitution. Since I came into this office we have collected around $850,000. It is more volume than large numbers. If it is a hundred bucks a wack it doesn’t take a lot to get to that number and the majority of them are ‘oops’, certainly not intentional.”

“The good side of this office is that we are on the ‘green side’ of the money. People are here, we put them on probation, fines, fees, court costs, restitution, and things of that nature. We are generally on the generating side of money, but there comes a point where there are so many cases that other things start to suffer because you simply don’t have enough people. Our county is not getting smaller criminally or civilly and protective orders and mental cases do not go down even if the county has a lean year. That is the only issue we are facing now and I have addressed it with the judge and we will make the best of the situation,” expressed Stainton.

When asked why he switched from private practice to county attorney, Mr. Stainton replied “I think my previous office manager (retired) said it best when I came into office, ‘we up here have always know you were a prosecutor at heart’. She spotted it. I had worked up here and tried cases and defended people and I did my job, but inside I am a law and order guy. That is what is inside me. Overall, I believe there was an opportunity to help my county, because it is my county. I grew up here. I played football here, I got my education here, and I know the people here. It has been my home since I was a little kid. I felt like I had an opportunity to do more than in private practice.”

“I believe that the only way our system works is if we have a fight. We have people on both sides that are fighting and doing their best on both sides. Both sides are prepared and however it comes out the system worked. That is the only way it works.”

“I don’t like criminals and it is really not that hard to violate the law. Our entire penal code is less than ½ inch thick in the book. You asked me why I am a prosecutor, I like to fix things. I love to go in when someone like the sheriff or auditor has a problem and I can fix it and find a solution. That is what is in my heart. I tell people I am not afraid to loss. I trust the system and my preparedness and my people. I trust the facts. That is the way I run the whole office.”

Mr. Stainton graduated from Boyd high school in 1992 and lives there now. He went to the University of Texas at Austin and graduated there in 1997. He started Baylor Law School in the spring of 1998 and graduated in the spring of 2000. He got married on July 31, 1999 and had been together since 1994. “We survived law school together. Anybody who is married and went to law school understands that,” stated Stainton. He had an opportunity with a small law firm in Wise County and came back home. He worked there for eight years and gained a lot of trial experience while there. “I have this wonderful wealth of experience and it benefits me every day,” said Stainton. He has three children, two boys and a girl. His father is an eye surgeon in Arkansas and he loves to go and duck hunt with him. His mother lives in Azle on the lake. “It’s nice having her close and spending time with her,” He has a younger brother who lives in Ft. Worth. “My family hunts a lot. This weekend is the opening of bow season and my oldest is excited about that. We pig hunt a lot.”

The Wise County Treasurer Katherine Hudson fulfils all those duties and explains, “The county treasurer is the hub for all the money to go through. Every department brings daily deposits to the treasurer. We don’t see as much general public as we do other county departments. Any department that collects money brings us that deposit daily. We receive by line item into the general ledger account. Like on court monies, every quarter we have to send money quarterly to the state. 90% of most court costs go to the state that is just on the court cost part of it.”

“We report to the state because money coming in is not all local. A lot of justice of the peace money and money that the clerks take in are assessed by the state depending on what type of filing that is being done. Fees are court costs, fines are charged on top of fees,” stated Ms. Hudson. “From there we disperse the money wherever it needs to go. All fine monies from JP offices goes to road and bridge, split equally between the four precincts. The tax office collects money and part goes to road and bridge and part to the general fund, based on the tax rates.”

“There are probably 25 accounts I balance each month. In a budget you have different lines that certain things are charged to, such as tires are charged to a line item or salaries are charged to a line item, or office supplies are charged to a line item, and there are many line items within each account.”

“The auditor makes sure I am doing my job correctly and they come in quarterly and do ‘spot checks’ on different things, whether it is on payroll or receipting, what kind of money we have in our drawer, that type of stuff.”

Ms. Hudson has worked for the county in the treasurer’s department for 31 years and has been treasurer for 19 years. She worked under the previous county treasurer for 12 years.

“I am not really involved in the county budget. The majority that I have to do with the budget is making sure that the auditor and the judge have any type of personnel costs that will affect the county. That would be things like the correct rates for unemployment, retirement, insurance rates and benefits, etc. Usually the judge and I work on health insurance rates together. That is the biggest portion of my involvement with the annual budget.”

“We maintain all of the human resources in this office. One employee is dedicated to just human resources. It is a full time job with 400 county employees,” stated the Treasurer.

Ms. Hudson commented when asked what she liked about her position, “I like numbers. I like the feeling of accomplishment when an account is in balance. I like the feeling when someone checks the numbers and says everything is good, that is another feeling of accomplishment. You did your job correctly.”

There are three employees in the treasurer’s office. One is designated strictly for human resources. She does fill in other places when needed. One employee is responsible for all the time keeping for the county and also receives the money daily with another employee.

“About six months ago we went 100% live with a computerized time keeping system, where each department head now has control and access over that department. They can see daily what their employees are doing. Before we would have to send them a report on any questions they might have. Now they can access it and see everything that happens,” stated Ms. Hudson.

“The busiest time of year for the treasurer’s office is September through January, because by the time I get everything input into the computer from the annual budget and balanced then it is time to do the ‘end of year’. It is time to issue w2’s and 1095’s for taxes.”

“I don’t have a lot of interaction with local businesses or the general public beyond participating in events like a fire department fund raiser and things like the chambers of commerce. The only public that generally comes into this office would be someone that has to pay a subdivision fee or something like that. They come here because there is not a department that collects that money per se, so they come through us.”

Ms. Hudson prefers to work behind the scenes. “I don’t like being in the spotlight,” she stated. The love of Katherine Hudson’s life is her five grandchildren with a sixth on the way. All are under the age of three so family time is hectic and fun. There are four boys and one girl now. “I’ve lived in every part of the county except the Rhome/Boyd area.” She and her husband presently reside near Balzora. In her free time, besides playing with grandkids, she does a little canning, motorcycle riding and camping. She is married with six children.

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It’s a great day for Republicans and Conservatives! We knew Wise County would stay very conservative and the voters definitively proved that. 86% Of Wise County voters thought the best ticket was all Republican! A big congratulations to all of our Wise County, State and Federal elected officials for winning big! Texas and Wise County is proof of our heart felt the beliefs and morals shining strong in our government.. Your welcome America!

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A shout out and a big thank you to all the volunteers, election workers polling location workers, and voters who come together to make this country’s election process work! I’m so thankful for all of the long hours and hard work put in by all those involved on all sides. This process is what sets America apart and makes it such a great country and example for the rest of the world!

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We are loving everyone who wants to get involved and make your choice known supporting our Republican candidates! We have run out of signs more than once but we have more ordered. We will have some next week so please follow our FACEBOOK page and ensure you are following the official page use the “F” […]

This Monday September 10th is the Republican meeting! 6:30pm in the JP 2 court room located in the Wise County Sheriffs Office in Decatur. We will discuss the coming elections and how to be involved along with many other things. We hope to see you there!